Milkman - Anna Burns

Description

In an unnamed city, where to be interesting is dangerous, an eighteen-year-old woman has attracted the unwanted and unavoidable attention of a powerful and frightening older man, 'Milkman'. In this community, where suggestions quickly become fact, where gossip and hearsay can lead to terrible consequences, what can she do to stop a rumour once it has started? Milkman is persistent, the word is spreading, and she is no longer in control . . .

Review

I wasn't going to read this book, but as I had just been over the water myself and was intrigued to find out more about an account of the "troubles" I decided to. Luckily for me it was also available on Borrowbox.

I had to keep leaving off the book to read other things. Partly because it was heavy going with the constant stream of narrative and the type face so small, partly because it was in places unnerving and mainly because it was annoying with the author choosing not to use any names.

I can understand the literary device for no names - to emphasise the time of the troubles, the not knowing of names or speaking of them. In fact I had my eyes opened to so many things of that time that I only experienced second hand through the news over the water.

About two thirds the way through I actually did enjoy the book as it became more of a personal narrative rather than observational. It was still hard going. You need to set time aside to appreciate this book and it is definitely not a beach read.

I'm giving this book three out of five stars - as it is after all Books in my Opinion.

Rewrite the Stars - Emma Heatherington

Description

It’s never too late to say I love you…

A stunning Christmas romance for fans of Josie Silver and Jojo Moyes

From the moment they meet one December day there’s something between Charlotte Taylor and her brother’s best friend, Tom Farley. But Tom’s already taken and Charlie has to let him go…

It’s another five years before their paths cross again only a secret from the past forces Charlie to make a choice. She promises herself she’ll never look back…

The years pass and Charlie moves on with her life but she can never forget Tom. He’s always there whispering ‘What if?’.

Can Charlie leave the life she has built for one last chance with Tom?  Or is the one that got away not really the one at all…?

Review

Although billed as a Christmas romance please don't delay reading the book, as I know a lot of people do not like to read books out of season so to speak. However as most of it isn't set in the Christmas period you could read it at any time of the year.

I'll admit when I began the book I did not take to Charlotte and for most of the book didn't really have any empathy with her or her perceived plight. Something about the storyline did grab me though and I read this book in one sitting, I was keen to find out how it was all going to turn out in the end. 

I began to warm to Charlotte when she got her new friend Sophie and then did feel for her in her life changes and the family members opinions she endures. The star of the story for me was her brother and I would have liked more of the backstory to his life. 

All in all a very enjoyable read with some will she won't she tensions and a little bit of a different spin on a romance story.

I don't think it is a spoiler to reveal that one of the songs in the book has actually been recorded and is available on youtube. I did wonder when I read the lyrics whether Emma had written them and if she was also a lyricist. In the acknowledgements at the end of the book all was revealed and I think it's a great and unusual touch to have the song to listen to, which I did as soon as I finished the book, adding another dimension to the read.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars and my thanks to netgalley and Harpercollins for the ARC to review.

The Trouble with Rose - Amita Murray

Description

A missing sister. A broken heart. 
A whole lot of trouble…

Rilla is getting married. Except she isn't. She's running away – from her confused fiancé Simon, her big mad family, and the memories nipping at her heels.

Her sister Rose would know what to do in such times of crisis.

But the trouble is, Rose is the crisis. She disappeared years ago, and Rilla's heart went missing too.

Where is Rose? And who is Rilla without Rose?

If she's to rescue some happiness out of all this chaos, she needs to find out

Review

I've got mixed feelings about this book. It all begins with the bride being arrested on her wedding day which just didn't sit right with me at all. We don't even get to find out why she's been arrested until quite a long way into the book either. It was a loose end niggling at me all through the story.

Rilla is the central character and I just didn't understand her one bit. She is part of a very large Indian family and she is frustrated by them. It seemed to me that they should be the ones frustrated with her. They all seemed to talk common sense and Rilla just floated along not worrying about anyone but herself, and of course Rose.

I got a little bored with the book about half way through and began to wonder where Rose could have gone. I did actually figure it out all on my own. To be fair the conclusion of where Rose went and the closing of the book was very poignant. But still I couldn't reconcile in my mind why Rilla had a responsible career and yet had a very irresponsible lifestyle.  Thank goodness for the GIF - that is what Rilla calls her family. "Great Indian Family" except every time I saw GIF my brain thought of an actual GIF and it was annoying and caused me to rethink what I was reading.

I didn't find the novel hilarious. It was amusing in minor parts. I really wish Rilla hadn't been so self absorbed and we had more time with the GIF. 

I'm giving this book three out of five stars. My thanks to netgalley and HarperCollins for an ARC to review.

Elevator Pitch - Linwood Barclay

Description

It all begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, non-stop, to the top. Once there, it stops for a few seconds, and then plummets.

Right to the bottom of the shaft.

It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy. But then, on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And when Wednesday brings yet another high-rise catastrophe, one of the most vertical cities in the world – and the nation’s capital of media, finance, and entertainment – is plunged into chaos.

Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. And it’s working. Fearing for their lives, thousands of men and women working in offices across the city refuse leave their homes. Commerce has slowed to a trickle. Emergency calls to the top floors of apartment buildings go unanswered.

Who is behind this? What do these deadly acts of sabotage have to do with the fingerless body found on the High Line? Two seasoned New York detectives and a straight-shooting journalist must race against time to find the answers . . .

Review

I have read almost all of Linwood Barclay's novels. Whilst this one did not in the end disappoint I felt it had a very different feel to the other novels. It is difficult when you have loved an author's work so much and then they write something which whilst good is not in the same league as previous books. 

It started and ended well but the middle just hung there. There were eventually the usual twists I expect from Linwood,  but just not throughout the book. At one point I felt like it was just a normal police procedural thriller. With a lot of back story about the one of the Detectives and also a journalist, some of which added to the story, but a lot of it didn't. When the elevator catastrophes happened, they were quite graphic in their descriptions, along with a scene of crime, which I wasn't expecting.

Some of the plot line I thought was a little unrealistic, especially for New York City, to say what it was would be a spoiler. 

Certainly towards the end of the book my pulse was racing as I wondered what the outcome would be. I maybe won't be stepping onto an elevator for a while either. 

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC to review.

The book is out on 5 September 2019.

The Secret Cove in Croatia

Description

Sail away to beautiful Croatia for summer sun, sparkling turquoise seas and a will-they-won’t-they romance you won’t be able to put down!

When no-nonsense, down-to-earth Maddie Wilcox is offered the chance to work on a luxury yacht for the summer, she can’t say no. Yes she’ll be waiting on the posh guests… But island-hopping around the Adriatic sea will more than make up for it – especially when Nick, her best friend Nina’s brother, is one of them.

Sparks fly when they meet on board and Maddie can’t believe self-entitled jerk Nick is really related to Nina. But in a secret, picture-perfect cove, away from the real world, Maddie and Nick discover they might have more in common than they realise…

Review

I just love this series of books by Julie Caplin, if you loved the previous ones, this won't let you down.

Julie's books always make me want to visit the places she sets the books in. Croatia is on my "to do list" and initially I was disappointed as it felt like there wasn't going to be much Croatian scene setting. But that all soon changed, as obviously they have to get on the chartered yacht and actually sail to Croatia!

I love that Julie's books mingle the characters. In this book we meet Maddie again who was in The Little Paris Patisserie. It won't matter if you haven't read that one as this is a stand alone book as all the ones in the series are. It adds to the enjoyment of reading for me though, as you recall the previous book and have a little more of a back story. It's just like meeting old friends.

Julie paints such a vivid picture of all the characters that I felt, as usual, that I had met them all in real life. There are some really quite different characters in this book and it's down to Julie's skill as a writer that they all seemed so believable. Maddie was a great character and it was lovely to get to know here more. She takes a crew job on a yacht and I loved the descriptions of her forays into the market to buy the foods. I also gave a little cheer every time she conquered one more task. There are two quite despicable characters who belittle her, but I was smiling so much when karma finally arrived for them.

A lovely light hearted read, although there was one scary part that had my heart racing. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review. 

Part of the Family (The Most Difficult Thing) - Charlotte Philby

Description

WHAT WOULD YOU SACRIFICE TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH?

On the surface, Anna Witherall personifies everything the aspirational magazine she works for represents. Married to her university boyfriend David, she has a beautiful home and gorgeous three-year-old twin daughters, Stella and Rose. But beneath the veneer of success and happiness, Anna is hiding a dark secret, one that threatens to unravel everything she has worked so hard to create.

As Anna finds herself drawn into the dark and highly controlled world of secret intelligence, she is forced to question her family’s safety, and her own. Only one thing is certain: in order to protect her children, she must leave them, forever. 

And someone is watching. Someone she thought she could trust. Someone who is determined to make them all pay.

Stylish and assured, The Most Difficult Thing is an irresistible combination of contemporary espionage and domestic suspense, and a compulsive, highly charged examination of betrayal.

Review

The book begins as Anna is meeting someone in subterfuge. The book then fast forwards three years. Without giving anything away this part of the book is then repeated at the end so it felt like some kind of deja vu when I got to the end of the book. It also slightly spoiled the book for me as when the tension was building I was aware of what was going to happen near the end of the book.

The book then reverts back to Anna's earlier life when she had just left Uni and has a sub heading of "Then". At this point I felt the book got a little too drawn out and I thought I was going to struggle to stay with it. Eventually the plot turned into more of a spy type thriller and at times I was on the edge of my seat, but then the beginning of the book would come back to me. It felt a little like an episode of Star Trek, when you know nothing will ever happen to the main characters just those who have a walk on part. 

Somewhere around part three of the book there was so much double, treble crossing that I got really confused about who was working for who and what was actually happening. Then came the ending - apart from the bit from the beginning of the book, there is a twist and then what felt like falling into a black hole. I have been trying to reconcile it in my mind - what did it mean? I've re read it and I'm no clearer with it, just wondering if there is a follow up book maybe?

It has taken me a while to be able to write this review because I have such mixed feelings about it. I was happy with the writing, but cared little for Anna or David. They were both so self absorbed in their own worlds and most of the supporting characters were too. 

I'm giving this book 4 out of stars. My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

The Perfect Wife - J P Delaney

Description

THE ENTHRALLING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE GIRL BEFORE

"There's something I have to explain, my love," he says, taking your hand in his. "That wasn't a dream. It was an upload."

Abbie wakes in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. The man by her side explains that he's her husband. He's a titan of the tech world, the founder of one of Silicon Valley's most innovative startups. He tells Abbie she's a gifted artist, a doting mother to their young son, and the perfect wife.

Five years ago, she suffered a terrible accident. Her return from the abyss is a miracle of science, a breakthrough in artificial intelligence that has taken him half a decade to achieve.

But as Abbie pieces together memories of her marriage, she begins questioning her husband's motives - and his version of events. Can she trust him when he says he wants them to be together for ever? And what really happened to her, half a decade ago?

Review

This is the third book by J P Delaney that I've read and I think he is becoming my new favourite author. Just how he keeps coming up with these ingenious psychological thriller plots I do not know, but I hope he has lots more to come.

The book begins with Abbie waking up and she thinks maybe she's been in an accident, is she in a hospital? Very quickly her husband is by her side reassuring her, she's fine. She's not been dreaming just experiencing an upload! It's been six years since he last saw her alive.

I was hooked straightaway and proceeded to read the book in one day - I just couldn't put it down. I loved the mix of sci -fi, artificial intelligence and computer talk. 

Although we believe Abbie in the present day to be AI the author had me willing her to succeed in everything she did. At one point she makes bouillabaisse - fish stew. At first I couldn't understand the precision in which the stages she goes through to make this dish are set out. I understood perfectly later on as it made me feel her pain so much more. I began to form an attachment to her character as she began to grow and discover more about the "real" Abbie. She was beginning to make her own decisions, most unlike a Stepford Wife. 

Throughout the book we have flashbacks as to how Abbie came to be in Tim's life. These chapters aren't annotated to show they are a flashback, but I found it easy to realise that we were delving back into the past. The book also deals with autism, as Abbie's son Danny is autistic. I thought this was done very well and rang true. At the end of the book  the acknowledgements reveal that author has a son who is autistic and has obviously based those parts of the book on his own real life experiences.

There are plenty of twists and just when I thought there would be no more it all changed again - brilliantly. This is a real page turner of a book.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.